stereolab

6 minutes ago, Toshiba66 said:

I'll need to add 6 new destinations to my bucket list.

In Holland there a numerous clubs, just off main roads, where girls are available, the difference being that there it is allowed to continue as the premises are clean, safe and the girls have regular compulsory health checks. Rooms are well appointed and there is no pressure on the client to buy drinks etc. Everything in Pattaya has a dirty, shady feel to it, certainly not my cup of tea.

5 minutes ago, newnative said:

Instead of being concerned with Pattaya's sex city image, the powers that be should be concerned with Pattaya's sidewalk image.   How's the city looking from a sidewalk view?  Answer: Lousy.  Instead of wasting time and money hanging ridiculous 'Happy' signs, get to work on the things that matter and start with the sidewalks on the major tourist roads like Pattaya Beach Road, Pattaya Second Road and go from there.  If you get rid of the parking on these major roads, you can expand the sidewalks, bury the overhead wires while you are doing it, and plant some shade trees.  Private industry is spending some major money doing its part to make Pattaya a more diversified tourist destination--the government needs to step up to the plate and spend some major money, too.  2017 and still no sidewalks at all on some sections of Pattaya Second Road?  Get started!

I spent 2 days in Pattaya last week, before flying to Singapore for 5 days, then back to Pattaya for 2 days, before flying back to Issan. The comparison is so huge, the cleanliness of Singapore, sidewalks you can walk on, joined up thinking, every building gives access to the next building, clear signage, no wires, no steel poles sticking out at Farang height. The smell and look of Pattaya is just disgusting. I told my wife that was my last trip there. The only area improved since my first visit in 1997 is the sidewalk on Beach Road, which has improved substantially, however there are still areas of complete darkness, replete with prostitutes, while policemen remove hawkers from the beach. Although I have to give them some credit for actually doing something. Yesterday morning,0430 hours, we passed bars serving alcohol, and prostitutes aplenty, so much for a crackdown.

48 minutes ago, joebrown said:

What did the father do? A very good question. I think he failed in his parental responsibility to be a good role model. Even more so since he is a police officer.

The attacker is 36 years old, not a 16 year old kid, he is fully responsible for his actions.

If you've travelled on Thai roads often you'd know that anything from tree branches to café signs will do , there is no uniformity when it comes to signage on road works , that's if you get any at all....................................

As a American I find this English fixation with the queue funny.
I once worked in Saudi Arabia and the Saudis were far worse then at jumping the queue than the Thais are here.
 
 

7\11 staff seem to have no idea who is next to be served, I abhor having people close to me, and therefore stand well back from the customer who is being served, but it seems that it just gives the locals the opportunity to walk in ahead of me. The staff seem to wear blinkers. Recently a young boy got to the counter at the same time as me, and he indicated that I should go first, I did, and then waited for him to be served, and I paid his bill, his Granny was well pleased.


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10 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

i was upgraded to business on emirates, i think it's because i was a member

 

i'm a member of qatar and etihad and around 60% - 70&% of the time i find i have an empty seat next to me. i never ask so maybe i'm lucky or else membership does have unforeseen benefits

 

Both my wife and I were upgraded to business class on the Dubai/Bangkok leg unasked, probably as we were both silver card holder . I was upgraded business to first class on China from London, again without asking the question, first and last time I flew with China. Perhaps upgraded as my surname begins with A.

13 minutes ago, spiderorchid said:

I remember when Dutch military forces were not required to cut hair, salute officers or obey commands. The Dutch navy was once the envy of the world, now Holland thinks it is up to others to defend their country. They are a token military force now at best. It would take a generation of training to re instil military discipline to the rabble that now exists. I would not require them to boost spending on their own forces, rather to contribute some dollars to those that may choose to defend them.

My last posting was at a very high level NATO HQ, my boss was Dutch, he rarely worked a full week, simply did not turn up when he felt like it. Some of my subordinates were Dutch, same principle applied. The word discipline meant nothing to them, and the senior officers allowed this to go on for years and years. The HQ would have collapsed without the UK,USA and Canadian input. 

6 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

I think if they do the blessing ritual you will be OK. If you buy the car from them they no doubt will throw it in for free. 

I have the feeling that the founding principle of this cult is that nothing is given away for free.

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So what happens now that he is a mere mortal??

 

He always was a mere mortal. Nothing has changed, merely a demotion in rank. His followers will be unchanged in their misplaced affections for this individual.

Nong Khai have started asking for details of wife,copy of Thai I.D. Card, copy of passport, when applying for an extension of stay (retirement). This was not in previous 4 years required. So this year I will pop in and get the latest requirements before attending on the actual day, and I will apply on the earliest day possible just in case. Generally speaking no problems at NK, certainly no additional fees have ever been requested. It is also a quiet office , so no long queues, or 0300 hours arrival times.

19 hours ago, farcanell said:

I think it's the anniversary of buddhas first sermon to his disciples.

Another special day for the temples, who will expect, and receive even more money from little old ladies who can barely afford to feed themselves. Shameful.

13 hours ago, ELVIS123456 said:

The "Georgian solution' seems to me to be the ideal way to go here in Thailand - and will probably work.

 

Sack all (100%) of the police force. Replace them with army personnel. Then replace those army personnel with more recruits. Make the only avenue to the police force, through the army (or navy). 

 

No guarantees - but the current Police system whereby regular exam cheating is accepted and is only the beginning of the corruption - must be destroyed. You cannot reform a totalitarian state - you have to destroy it.  

 

You make some good points here, and I would supplement them with the absolute need to pay a good salary and by issuing a brand new uniform so that people can tell he is not of the old brigade and that he has been properly trained to ensure the rule of law is followed by all, and not by selective enforcement. Eventually, all police would be from the new school, it will take many years, but a start has to be made. Big problem would be from those higher up the food chain who have come to expect an easy living and additional non-taxable income. Therefore a cull of senior officers would be needed.

58 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

This mind numbing gobbledygook is so difficult to fathom, perhaps he is cleverer than we think.

Amnesty International are probably just short of money, and stirring the nearest pot to garner funds.

1 hour ago, longball53098 said:

I am logged in to my subscription of iLikeHD and all the payment options seem to be available to me

I got the impression yesterday, that the beta site might be going fully operational next Sunday 11th February . I hope it is, as it has a re-run facility, good for late night U.K. football. They are not using their messaging system properly, I like to know what is happening ahead of time, in clear and concise English. 

On 2/2/2017 at 0:44 PM, Xaos said:

I used them they were working fine. You could pay them online but not anymore. Only bank deposits now and it takes ages to get it sorted. Since then I switched to IPTV Feed. Theres 1 price for whole package like 4200 live channels and vod. All europe usa etc. Keep in mind that for iptv u need good internet, i got 100mbit optic from true and it works fine. Its not so good on 10mib adsl. U can watch some channels smooth. Google it or msg me for web site. Btw. Theres free 24h trial so u can see how its like 4 u

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Look at post #9 above, credit card still available. I just logged in to ilikehd5, their beta site, to confirm the credit card option is still there, and it is. The beta website is still being developed, it looks very promising, but they need to spend more time and money on it. Buffering has been a major problem recently. Last weekend I could not watch any football, but other streams were stable. 

On 1/31/2017 at 10:56 AM, cracker1 said:

" The vehicles can seat 21 and feature an auto-pay station for the convenience of the travelling public. "

Can anyone please tell me what an "auto-pay station" is ?

I think they mean a lucky amulet issuing device. Auto-pay would mean the loss of thousands of clerical staff . We can't have that sort of thing here.

Well done Sir, give the money direct the those that need it, ignore the temples, how many Mercedes Benzs' does a Monk require?

2 hours ago, yardrunner said:

Some Thai health professionals believe that the blues and twos are put on indiscriminately, was giving a hospital nurse a lift and an ambulance came up behind us with siren blaring and lights flashing, i pulled over to let him pass and was asked why did you do that he was just showing how important he is.

I agree that you should give way to emergency vehicles when they have the blues and twos on but the drivers of these vehicles also need training so they only use them when it is appropriate otherwise the boy who called wolf syndrome kicks in and people do not believe it is an emergency even when it is one

My Mother in Law, was being transferred from the city hospital to one closer t;o the family house, after she had recovered, from serious though not life threatening injuries, after being hit by a boy racer on a motorbike. I had gone in to the city to see her, and agreed to follow the ambulance, as I was still new to the area. Well the ambulance driver switched on his blues and twos, and headed out a high speed into the traffic, he barged across lanes, drove through red lights, and I kept up though I must have broken half a dozen laws. He kept the lights on until he reached the local hospital.. Totally unnecessary  behavior. Dangerous to the point of being suicidal. After dropping her off,, he switched the lights back on and headed home alone.

51 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Wrong wrong wrong, the real problem is no police patrolling the roads...they are playing candycrush in their tents.

 

Also those checkpoints don't help at all, they need to drive on the road (undercover cars  with dashcams would be best) and also at night. Just fine everyone who's not obeying trafficrules and start with driving against traffic.

Our large village has up to 10 Police and other officials sitting in a tent all day long. Meanwhile, drivers are careening through the village at 90kph, breaking at the last moment at the checkpoint, before racing on again. Only once have they got up and stopped the traffic, and they stopped all traffic, at a crossroads, at the same time, causing un-necessary congestion and confusion. 

21 hours ago, Ronuk said:

All very well wanting the same standards applied across the board here. Remember though that in that scenario, 75% or possibly more of expats here could be given 7 days notice to leave the country.

Sometimes it's better just to comply.

You have to comply, that is the point I am trying to make. Even within the office at Nong Khai there are differing views on the requirements. 'Face' (The loss of), means that  little will change , unfortunately.

17 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

Where the reals are consistent and clearly documented, I have no problem with this attitude. I do, though, think people have a legitimate gripe when individual offices and officials make up their own rules as they go along, sometimes causing a considerable degree of inconvenience. Thailand ought to aspire to the standards of places like Singapore or Hong Kong, not those of some African banana republic.

A Government office should not be able to make up its' own local rules. The key word here being 'Government". No autonomy should be granted to an individual office. I spent many years in military administration, and the key factor in  making administration smooth is global standards, an office in Scotland had the same exact rule book as an office in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We had annual inspections to check on these standards. No Unit within the U.K. Could declare unilaterally that they had added a new hoop for our customers. 

The only way to check if an applicant stays at a specific named address, is to visit him/her at home. However , this is unlikely to happen, as it would involve to much effort and co-ordination. Nong Khai staffing levels would easily cope with carrying out these checks. Once you square away the good guys that leaves time for the bad guys. Additionally, if you are going to add in new requirements, why not make it known to the individuals on your system, you have their e-mail addresses, a single global e-mail and everyone is made aware of the new requirements.